a rarity in my neck of the woods!

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

apparently we've had a unusual visitor in my state that has never been seen before! a calliope hummingbird! but after yesterday's gusty winds he/she probably blew further east!
http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/ca...ime/-/9857858/22759298/-/13uf0uq/-/index.html

 

[digitS']

Hey!

You send that bird back!

Well, maybe you'd better buy him an airline ticket for the Pacific coast of Mexico, Chickie'sMoma! It is November, for crying out loud!

Steve
Calliope Hummingbird, All About Birds (link)

 

[Carol Dee]

COOL. We only see Ruby Throats here.

 

[Smart Red]

We had much ado of the same sort between July and October of 2007. Here's the reason for the fuss. . .

FROM NPR INTERVIEW:

"A rare visitor to Joan Salzberg's backyard has drawn hundreds of ornithology devotees to her Beloit, Wisconsin home. The South American green-breasted mango hummingbird has been a star attraction for the past few weeks. The crowds have finally cleared out from Joan Salzberg's backyard in Beloit, Wisconsin. That's where Ms. Salzberg and her husband discovered a Green-breasted Mango hummingbird fluttering its wings this summer. And hundreds (689 signed her visitor's book) of bird lovers have flocked to their house to catch a glimpse.

The Green-breasted Mango is a rarity in these parts. A South American bird hardly ever spotted north of Mexico. It's twice the size of a Ruby-throated, that's all we have up here. And the juvenile had a, kind of, like a mottled breast and it had some, russet down the side of it. But the most distinctive feature is the curved bill. And they say he'll stay here as long as he can get food and as long as he can get bugs in the nectar out of the seeder then it'll be all right. But the first good frost, I think, hmm, something bad will happen to the poor thing."

A happy ending, the avian visitor was caught and taken to the butterfly room in Chicago's Museum of Natural Science where it lived until they found someone to take the bird down to its natural wintering habitat in South America.

 

[digitS']

We are supposed to have more but all I ever see are the Black-chinned and the Calliope.

I don't know which is more common. There is no hummingbird feeder in my flower gardens but they show up once there are blooms. I'm not sure if they benefit from the flowers; it is mostly the bright red zinnias and dahlias that attract them. Hopefully, there are plenty of neighbors with feeders to make up for me luring them in without benefit - if that's what is happening. (The brightly colored dragonflies are about the same size and I hope they are finding what they are looking for!)

It is fun to have them around. The hummers will sit on a trellis string without seeming to put any weight on it, at all.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

The only kind I ever see around here are Ruby throats, except that one Rufous (sp?) that hung around the feeder at my window till Feb 1. Steve, do you not have Rubies in your area? We had more hummers than usual this year. Anyone else?

 

[897tgigvib]

That's way cool chickiesmamainnh!

one mile from here is a mostly open oak habitat and they get lots of hummers there. I get a few around my garden.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

one of these years i will get myself a humming bird feeder so i can keep them coming. when i lived with my parents and put in their garden i had planted a honeysuckle vine on the arbor opposite a young grape vine. it seemed to attract the hummers in our area when it was in bloom. the vine eventually had issues with mildew on the leaves so it was removed. the hummers seemed to be attracted to other things in the yard but that was their favorite. a few years ago i was sitting under that arbor enjoying the shade of the grape that took it over, admiring the ponds and their pretty sound and the next thing i realize is a hummer buzzing past me as close as could be.

 

[digitS']

The only kind I ever see around here are Ruby throats, except that one Rufous (sp?) that hung around the feeder at my window till Feb 1. Steve, do you not have Rubies in your area? We had more hummers than usual this year. Anyone else?

I have seen what I thought were Ruby-throated but came to believe that they were not. Rufous too, but there seems to be a scattering of species and that might account for Chickie'sMoma & Linn's stories.

However, it could just be that hummingbirds are so tiny that they will go completely overlooked if they are more than about 100 feet away.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

My DH had to rescue a hummer this year that had gotten trapped in the feeder perch. It must have been doing some of those acrobatic battle moves, and gotten its wings tangled up in the foot bars on the bottom of the feeder. I shudder to think about the possible outcome if DH hadn't seen it.